We freeze all sorts of things to keep them for later. Why don’t people know that we can freeze eggs too?

(eggs courtesy of the Damsel’s Freerange Flightless Female Flock.)

It’s okay. You can do it. It’s not illegal. The knowledge of this secret can now sweep the earth.

Now, calmly realize you aren’t going to be able to thaw a frozen egg and then cook it sunny side up. But you can use them quite happily in baked things, and even scrambled eggs.

Most professional egg-freezers say to do it like this: Crack the eggs into a bowl, and lightly mix them. Break up the yolks and so on, but don’t beat a lot of air into the eggs.

The Damsel wonders why, but although many people share the air warning, no one seems to know the reason.

Then pour the eggs into an ice cube tray. Freeze, then pop them out into a ziplock bag. One cube = one egg.

Some people have had trouble getting the egg cubes to pop out. One person even said they broke the ice cube tray because they tried so very hard. So, you may want to spray the ice cube tray with cooking spray and see if that helps.

Others like to freeze the whites and yolks separately.

Yolks, whether separate or part of a whole egg, will become lumpy after freezing, but this can be avoided by stirring in a 1/2-teaspoon salt per 1-cup of egg or yolks. If using for desserts, use 1-tablespoon sugar or corn syrup per 1-cup yolks or whole eggs.

Why are they called “yolks?” Yolk. Yolk. What a funny word.

You can just freeze the eggs in a freezer container instead of the ice cube tray, and then measure out the amount you want. (Thaw by putting in the refrigerator the day before you want to use them) Here is a handy chart for that:

Whole Eggs3 whole eggs = 1/2 cup
1 whole egg = 3 tablespoons

Yolks6-7 yolks = 1/2 cup
1 yolk = 1 tablespoon

Whites4-6 whites = 1/2 cup
1 white = 2 tablespoons

One reader (Hi Caleb!) has a good suggestion: crack the eggs directly into a freezer bag. He prefers making bags of two eggs since that’s what most of his recipes call for. He doesn’t mix the eggs or fool around with salt or sugar. He lays them flat in the freezer so they take up very little space.

Or, go walk on the wild side. This will sound heretical, but you could just Put The Egg In The Freezer. Just as it is. Shell and all. It won’t explode. It may crack, and while this is disturbing, you may decide you feel ok about it. Cracked eggs aren’t a great idea because eggs can harbor salmonella. But if the egg is frozen, and then thawed and cooked thoroughly, you may decide the chances of contamination are pretty small. Your mileage may vary.

Be aware that thawed eggs will seem watery, but will cook up just fine.

Air makes them go bad faster. That is why we take the air out of things we store by using vacumn packing etc. I have had eggs freeze on me in the shell and then fried them up and they are almost just like fresh. Thanks for the tip. I’ve been thinking I needed to store some eggs in the freezer just in case.

Tami

GReat tip! Also, to get them out of the trays, just turn them upside down and run warm water over the bottom of the tray for a few seconds, then try twisting again! 🙂

kathy

yahoo!!!! this awesome. thank you, thank you, thank you. just a few questions. do you crack, mix a bunch of eggs together and then pour in tray or do you do one egg for each slot. is salt added to eggs when you mix or when you defrost. sorry if these are dumb. you probably made it clear but mind is boggled at this whole concept.

thedamselindisdress

Kathy,

Good questions! If you want to do it the ice cube tray way, crack and mix in a bowl with the salt, then pour into the ice cube tray. If you want to do it the ziplock way, just crack the eggs directly into the ziplock. My friend says he doesn’t worry about the salt. I’d lay them on a cookie sheet or something so they will freeze flat…if your freezer is like mine and doesn’t have any flat real estate left. This is so the baggie will freeze in a nice flat state so you can later stack them in the freezer so they don’t take up much room. Does that make sense?
Thanks,
Margot (The Damsel)

Louise

How long do you think they’ll keep in the freezer?

thedamselindisdress

I’d use them within a year.

Thanks for visiting the Old School!

Margot (The Damsel)

Alannah

would using the silicone ice cube trays effect them in any way? it might be easier to get the eggs out of them.

thedamselindisdress

Alannah,

I haven’t tried it but I think the silicone trays would work really well.
Margot (The Damsel)

Welcome to Old School!

The Damsel in Dis Dress is your teacher for today. Her qualifications are that she is "old."
Old School is where you get to learn about some old skills and other thingies that Grandma used to know like the back of her age-spotted hand.
Why would you want to learn old stuff? Two reasons. 1. Last time the Damsel checked, the economy was still tanking. Some things you'll learn in Old School will help save money. 2. Other things will help you be more self-reliant. You'll learn how to do things that Grandma used to do all the time, but people have forgotten.
But why, Damsel? Why? Because the day may come that we'll need those skills, and it's part of being prepared. Plus, the Damsel thinks it's nice to keep those skills from being lost.